A.J. Cavotta will cap a standout golf year with an autumn trip to Florida.

A teaching pro at Anders Mattson Golf in Saratoga Springs, Cavotta grabbed Northeastern New York’s PGA berth into the 50th Assistant PGA Professional Championship, shooting a 3-under-par 139 over 36 holes Monday at Mohawk to win the section’s Assistants Championship.

Cavotta, 24, the 2019 Times Union boys’ golf Athlete of the Year from Saratoga Springs, was in a three-way tie with Nolan Crowley, who also works at Mattson’s studio, and Nick Frankl of Albany. A bogey-free second round of 5-under 66 gave Cavotta a five-stroke victory over Crowley, the 2018 TU boys’ golf Athlete of the Year who also played at Saratoga.

The victory punched Cavotta’s ticket to Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the Wanamaker Course at the PGA Golf Club will play host to the national assistants championship Nov. 12-15, and adds to a 2026 season in which he:
•    earned $40,000 by winning the Next Golf Tour Championship, a worldwide circuit played on golf simulators (February)
•    finished fourth in the Massachusetts Open, taking home $4,500 (June)
•    captured the $2,000 top prize at the Donald Ross Classic at Glens Falls, his first major victory in the NENYPGA (June)
•    placed second in the New York Open, losing in a playoff, at Bethpage Black, winning $11,000 (July)
•    took sixth in the Canada Cup at Victoriaville, Quebec, worth $4,900 (August)
•    was selected as the NENYPGA’s Assistant Professional of the Year (August)

Scotia native Laura Diaz, now living in Winston-Salem, N.C., tied for seventh in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Ann Arbor, Mich., 10 shots behind winner Maria McBride of Sweden. Diaz, 51, hit all 14 fairways in three of her four rounds. She tied for 15th last season in her first year of eligibility. … Samantha Schuffenecker has been named the new women’s golf coach at Union.

The following Capital Region youths advanced out of the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship sub-regional last week at Turning Stone: Oscar London of Saratoga Springs (boys 14-15), Gracie Ferrara of Glenville (girls 14-15), Spencer Bombardier of Albany (boys 12-13), Meghan Anderson of Schenectady (girls 12-13), Claire Dudley of Queensbury (girls 10-11) and Ella Yu of Cohoes (girls-7-9). The regionals will be held Oct. 11 at Quaker Ridge in Scarsdale. The top player in each age group at regionals advances to the national finals April 4 at Augusta National. … The three-day Shaker Ridge Invitational, a two-man event, begins Friday.

Pat Mayne of Western Turnpike finished third in last week’s State Women’s Senior Amateur at Binghamton, two shots behind the winner. Two-time champion Mary Sicard of Queensbury was fifth. … Karen Feldman of Columbia was third in the Super Senior, five strokes off the pace. Susan Kahler of Ballston Spa tied for sixth. … In the Legends Division, Kathy Harkins of Ballston Spa was third and Linda Kolnick of eClub Capital Region tied for fifth.

The NENYPGA’s Junior Tour has crowned its champions for the summer: Ryden Klatt, Glenville (boys 15-18); Teagan Mahoney, Tannersville (girls 15-18); Aiden Gibilaro, South Glens Falls (boys 13-14); Hailee Riley, Saratoga Springs (girls 13-14); Andrew Schwenker, Queensbury (boys 10-12), and Megan Zou, Cohoes (girls 10-12). … The NENYPGA’s Doug Evans and Andrew Rosenbaum Memorial Scholarships have been awarded to Lilla Zeewalk (Shenendehowa), who will attend Saint Anselm; Timothy Esmay (Guilderland), bound for Stony Brook; and Will Souza (Niskayuna), who is headed to Skidmore.